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Good Stuff House If ever there were a band made to play a festival called Fugue State–a term describing a dissociative state of consciousness–it’s Good Stuff House. On the forthcoming Endless Bummer (Root Strata), Matt Christensen, Mike Weis (both of Zelienople), and Scott Tuma (Boxhead Ensemble, Souled American) use familiar instruments like guitar, drums, harmonica, and clarinet as well as homemade contraptions like the Vibrachime (a repurposed church bell) to layer languid melodies and atmospheric drones atop a mix of lo-fi recordings (people at a Brazilian train station, their own voices, et cetera). But what makes the music really mind melting is the heavy reverb, much of it courtesy of the church and basement where they recorded. It reminds me of a Tom Verlaine line: “It’s like walking around in the ring of a bell.” Tonight’s Fugue State lineup, headliner first: Dreamweapon, Haptic, Good Stuff House, Matt Clark, and Number None. For Saturday’s lineup, see the Treatment item for Estesombelo. a 8 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $12, $20 for a two-day pass. –Bill Meyer
c LEE BOYS This Florida-based family act (three brothers and three of their nephews) rocked the crowd at last year’s Blues Festival with the gospel of Jacksonville’s House of God church, birthplace of the “sacred steel” tradition, which adorns crowd-pleasing R & B shout-alongs with lap and pedal steel guitar. Its pioneers were inspired by the Hawaiian steel guitar music popularized in the 30s, but the genre has developed into something a lot more like Hendrix for Jesus. And the sound is Almighty–it snakes and coils and unfolds and runs deep as Langston Hughes’s rivers, promising joy and threatening terror. Tonight’s performance is part of the American Music Festival; for a complete schedule, see page 22. The Lee Boys also play the House of Blues Back Porch Stage on Thursday, June 28, at 10 PM. a 9:30 PM (music starts at 5 PM), FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt, Berwyn, 708-788-2118, $25, $20 for the first hour, $5 for kids 12 and under (with legal guardian until 10 PM), no advance tickets. –Monica Kendrick
cLARRY GRAY TRIO Someday genetic engineering will create the perfect jazz bassist; until then, Larry Gray will have to do. As a soloist he blows most of his peers away: originally a guitarist, he has a strong tone but a feathery technique, which allows him to construct statements that would sound natural coming from a tenor sax or trumpet. His arco work is especially remarkable–Gray got a master’s in classical cello after he’d already made his name as a top-flight jazzman. Another bassist with this kind of virtuosity might never let you forget it, but Gray has the good taste to tamp it down when he’s not the main attraction. Over the past three decades that’s made him a first-call sideman, and he’s supported dozens of local bands and countless visiting luminaries. Even when he backs a star, though, he’s often the best musician onstage. Gray leads his own gigs less frequently; this one, featuring kinetic pianist Jim Trompeter and drum dynamo Dana Hall, celebrates the release of the trio’s excellent new CD, One Look (on the bassist’s own Graywater label). a 8 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, 773-878-5552, $10. –Neil Tesser
PSYCHEDELIC FURS See Friday. The Fixx and the Alarm open. a 6:30 PM, Naperville Ribfest main stage, Knoch Park, Naperville, 630-548-5205, $10, children 11 and under free. A
Marnie Stern headlines; Bang! Bang!, 8 Inch Betsy, and Brilliant Pebbles open. a 9 PM, Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace, 773-478-4408 or 866-468-3401, $12, 18+.
USZTURU ENSEMBLE For the last 15 years this Hungarian folk quartet has dedicated itself to preserving the traditional dance music of Transylvania, in which violinists saw out electrifying melodies over high-velocity grooves played on a couple of viola-like instruments (the bracsa and the kontra) and the bass. Uszturu’s members have studied with some of the region’s finest string players, from Sandor Fodor to Ferenc Mezei of Szaszcsavas, and that training shows on their most recent album, 2004’s Az Oregeke (Folk Europa), where the elaborate harmonies and heavy chording produce a kaleidoscopic range of textures. For this show, part of the city’s Summerdance series, the group will be joined by cimbalom player Kalman Koszorus, who doubles on bracsa, and dancers Istvan Kis and Julia Redo, who will also give a free dance lesson at 6 PM. a 7:30 PM, Spirit of Music Garden, Grant Park, 601 S. Michigan, 312-742-4007. FA –Peter Margasak
